Pleurotus australis

Description

Pleurotus australis is a species of Fungi in the family Pleurotaceae. It is a gilled mushroom native to Australia and New Zealand. It is found on dead wood. This fleshy, shell-shaped species has a brown cap with an inrolled margin. Cream to brown gills run down the stem, where they often form a network of ridges. The stem can be lateral or off-center, white or brown but always short and stubby.

Although morphologically similar to some other Pleurotus fungi, it is a distinct species incapable of cross-breeding.

Common names: Brown Oyster Mushroom.

Mushroom Identification

1. Cap

   200mm dia., dry, smooth or minutely scaly, margin strongly inrolled when young.

2. Gills

   Deeply decurrent.

3. Stem

   Dry, smooth except for a network of ridged gill remains.

4. Spores

   White, drying out to pale tan.

5. Habitat

   Australia—on roots of Leptospermum in S. Australia (holotype). new zealand—in indigenous forest, growing on the wood of Leptospermum scoparium J.R, & G. Forst, Kunzea ericoides (A. Rich.) Joy Thomps., Corynocarpus laevigatus J.R. & G. Forst. and Sophora microphylla Alton, occasionally on the ground from buried roots. The basidiomes may be solitary or in imbricate clusters.

Synonyms

1. Agaricus australis Cooke & Massee (1887)

2. Dendrosarcus australis (Cooke & Massee) Kuntze (1898)

3. Agaricus leptospermi F.Muell. (1888)

Photo sources:

Photo 1 - Author: Aussie Oc (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Photo 2 - Author: karode13 (CC BY-SA 3.0)